Oscar de la Renta, the Dominican-born fashion designer who spent more than 50 years dressing royalty, Hollywood celebrities and U.S. first ladies from Jacqueline Kennedy to Hillary Clinton, died yesterday, the New York Times reported. He was 82 years old.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Annette de la Renta, according to the Times. The “Guru of Glamor,” who acquired U.S. citizenship in 1969, was the first American to become the top designer of a French fashion house. As head of Paris-based Balmain for 10 years and for his own label, de la Renta produced evening gowns and dresses that seemed ubiquitous on the cover of Vogue magazine and on the red carpet at the Academy Awards, competing with the likes of Valentino for a high-society clientele.

“He makes a woman look like a woman, feel like a woman,” designer Diane von Furstenberg said in a video tribute to de la Renta for an exhibit at the William J. Clinton Presidential Center. “He has that old-fashioned elegance, and yet he’s able to interpret it in such a modern way.”

His blend of European luxury clothing with American casual wear was worn by models Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford in the 1990s, by actresses Penelope Cruz, Sarah Jessica Parker and Anne Hathaway, and by royalty. Archduchess Maria of Austria wore a de la Renta gown for her 1996 wedding and Queen Noor of Jordan was photographed in his designs for Vogue in 2003.

First Ladies

De la Renta’s designs, which former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg once said “have been to more award shows than Meryl Streep,” were best known for being worn by America’s first ladies, including Kennedy and Nancy Reagan. In 2001, he dressed Laura Bush in a silver long-sleeved gown for George W. Bush’s inauguration, and Hillary Clinton in a gold cape over a gold long-sleeve gown for the 1997 presidential inauguration ball.

“I still remember when Hillary walked out in that gown,” former U.S. President Bill Clinton said in the video tribute. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s beautiful.’ I still think it’s probably the best gift Oscar ever gave us, beyond his friendship.”

The following year, Hillary Clinton became the first wife of a U.S. president to appear on the cover of Vogue. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, the future secretary of state donned a de la Renta dress in black velvet for the occasion.

Obama Snub

First lady Michelle Obama had a frosty relationship with de la Renta, snubbing his designs for years after he publicly criticized her choice of clothing for a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II in 2009 and at a state dinner with Chinese officials two years later. This month, she appeared in the designer’s clothing for the first time, wearing a de la Renta dress at a White House cocktail party.

Oscar Aristides Ortiz de la Renta Fiallo was born on July 22, 1932, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His father, Oscar Avelino de la Renta, was a Puerto Rican insurance agent and his mother, Maria Antonia Fiallo, was from a well-to-do Dominican family. De la Renta was his mother’s only son, and he had six stepsisters on his father’s side, according to Vogue.

At the urging of his mother, who was terminally ill with multiple sclerosis, de la Renta moved to Madrid at age 17 to study painting at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. In the mid-1950s, he secured a job with fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga as an illustrator before working for Lanvin in Paris under designer Antonio del Castillo.

‘Big Lie’

“Castillo says, ‘I like your sketches. I’d like you to work for me,’” de la Renta said in a 2013 interview with Alexander Wang for Style.com. “And I said, ‘Well, in fact, I’ve already accepted another job.’ So he said, ‘How much are they paying you?’ So I made a huge big lie, and I gave them a higher amount.”

De la Renta returned to New York in 1963 with the belief that fashion’s future lay in ready-to-wear clothing, rather than haute couture. He worked for Elizabeth Arden and Jane Derby Inc., which he took over after Derby’s death in 1965. De la Renta bought the business and replaced her name with his on the label. Later, he designed for Balmain from 1993 until 2002.

De la Renta was the recipient of the American fashion industry’s Coty Award in 1967 and 1968; a lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1990; and the Gold Medal of Bellas Artes from the king of Spain in 2000. He served two terms as president of the CFDA, was chairman of the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute in New York and was on the boards of Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera.

Philanthropic Cause

The designer was also a philanthropist, founding the Casa del Nino orphanage in La Romana, Dominican Republic.

He was married twice, the first time to Francoise de Langlade, an editor-in-chief of French Vogue, who died in 1983. Six years later, he tied the knot with Annette Engelhard. De la Renta had an adopted son, Moises.

“Style begins by looking good naked,” he said in a 2013 interview with the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper. “It’s a discipline. And if you don’t dress well every day, you lose the habit. It’s not about what you wear, but how you live your life.”

The designer Oscar de la Renta at the conclusion of his spring 2007 fashion show in New York. He died on Monday at 82. Credit Stuart Ramson/Associated Press

Oscar de la Renta, the doyen of American fashion, whose career began in the 1950s in Franco’s Spain, sprawled across the better living rooms of Paris and New York, and who was the last survivor of that generation of bold, all-seeing tastemakers, died on Monday at his home in Kent, Conn. He was 82.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Annette de la Renta. The cause was complications from cancer. Though ill with cancer intermittently for close to eight years, Mr. de la Renta was resilient. During that period his business grew by 50 percent, to $150 million in sales, as his name became linked to celebrity events like the Oscars. Amy Adams, Sarah Jessica Parker and Penélope Cruz were among the actresses who wore his dresses.

Recently his biggest coup was to make the ivory tulle gown that Amal Alamuddin wore to wed George Clooney in Venice.

Determined to stay relevant, Mr. de la Renta achieved fame in two distinct realms: as a couturier to rich socialites — the so-called ladies-who-lunch, his bread and butter — and as a red-carpet king. He also dressed four American first ladies, but it was Hollywood glitz, rather than nice uptown clothes, that defined him for a new age and a new customer. Just as astutely he embraced social media.

Many high-end designers had bigger businesses. Some were more original. But very few were fearless enough to adapt to a cultural shift. Mr. de la Renta did it twice in his career, the first time in 1980.

Normally he didn’t dwell on the subject of his legacy. In an interview in 2009, at his home in Punta Cana, in his native Dominican Republic, he said of fashion: “It’s never been heavy. Somebody might ask, ‘What is Oscar de la Renta? And you could say, ‘It’s a pretty dress.’”

Instead, he preferred to joke, or talk about his vegetable garden in Kent, or dish the dirt. He rarely shied from controversy or calling someone out. Three years ago, he chided Michelle Obama for wearing foreign labels. (He insisted that his comments were not made because she never wore his things. Eventually, this month, she did.) Once, in a speech, he offered to send three-way mirrors to certain editors who wore miniskirts. But then, all his life Mr. de la Renta loved being where the action was — whether a gala, a dominoes table, or in his various homes entertaining talented and influential friends.

“He notices everything,” John Fairchild, the retired publisher of Women’s Wear Daily, said a few years ago. A telephone call from Mr. de la Renta might begin with a familiar bit of flirtation: “How are you, my darling. Tell me the gossip.”

In 1980, he and his first wife, a former editor named Francoise de Langlade, posed for the cover of The New York Times Magazine, with the headline, “Living Well is Still the Best Revenge.” By then, Mr. de la Renta had lived in New York for 17 years — less time than rivals Bill Blass and Geoffrey Beene.

The article, which described the stylish couple’s uninhibited social ascent — and the array of people who came to their “salons,” ranging from Norman Mailer to Henry Kissinger — was a kind of watershed moment. Fashionable people had long been part of the city’s social scene; that wasn’t news. But, as a point of contrast, when Truman Capote held his Black and White Dance in 1966, only a tiny fraction of the 540 guests were dress designers. They became more visible during the 1970s, but The Times Magazine article, by Francesca Stanfill, now put their money and status out in the open.

As Alexander Liberman, the editorial director of Condé Nast, said, “Designers have become the new tycoons.” Mr. de la Renta soon embarked on the next phase of his career: as a designer to first ladies, beginning with Nancy Reagan.

Though Mr. de la Renta never took his job lightly, he always gave the impression that his life mattered more. He had enormous zest, displayed in his fashion — the vibrant colors, the airy sleeves, the Turkish delight numbers that so appealed to his greatest champion, the editor Diana Vreeland.

But where he really revealed himself, his hospitable nature, was in his native Dominican Republic, where he was regarded as an unofficial ambassador (he held a diplomatic passport anyway). He built two homes there. The first, in Casa de Campo, featured thatched roofs, rattan furniture, and hammocks, and images of the de la Rentas’ informal gatherings often appeared in W in the 1970s.

The second home, in Punta Cana, though imposing in the Colonial style, with wide verandas (and its own chapel on the grounds), also had a relaxed feeling. Mr. de la Renta built the house with his second wife, the former Annette Engelhard Reed, whom he married in 1989, following the death of Francoise, from cancer, in 1983.

In addition to his wife Annette, Mr. de la Renta is survived by a son, Moises; by three sisters, and by three stepchildren and nine step-grandchildren.

At holidays, the de la Rentas filled their house in Punta Cana with relatives and friends, notably Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy and Henry Kissinger, and the art historian John Richardson. The family dogs had the run of the compound, and Mr. de la Renta often sang spontaneously after dinner. First-time visitors, seeking him out in the late afternoon, were surprised to find him in the staff quarters, hell bent on winning at dominoes.

A man of the world, he was at ease everywhere. Though he once said, “To me, home is wherever Annette is,” then added with a droll laugh, “She could be unbelievably happy without me.”

Oscar Aristedes de la Renta was born in Santo Domingo on July 22, 1932. The youngest of seven children and the only boy, he often recalled that he usually got what he wanted from his family. He finished high school in Santo Domingo, and although his father preferred that he join him in the insurance business, young Oscar persuaded his mother to send him to Madrid to study art.

At 19, a year after her death, he left for Spain on a passenger ship.

Besotted by postwar Madrid, and his new freedom, Mr. de la Renta was soon spending more time in the cafes and night clubs, meeting flamenco dancers, than in class. As well, he acquired a senorito wardrobe, he told the writer Sarah Mower, which consisted of custom-made suits from the tailor Luis Lopez, high starched collars and a carnation of deepest red in his buttonhole. The $125 his father sent each month paid for fancy clothes and in a sense his broader education afoot in Spain.

For extra money, he drew clothes for newspapers and fashion houses. He later admitted that his drawings were not technically accomplished or original. Nonetheless, some of his sketches were seen by Francesca Lodge, the wife of John Davis Lodge, then the United States Ambassador to Spain. In 1956, she asked Mr. de la Renta to design a coming-out dress for her daughter Beatrice. The dress and the debutante appeared on the cover of Life that fall.

He was soon working in the Madrid salon of Cristobal Balenciaga, perhaps the greatest couturier of that period. Mr. de la Renta’s job was to sketch dresses to send to clients. But when he asked Mr. Balenciaga to transfer him to the main studio in Paris, the couturier told him he wasn’t qualified yet and to wait a year.

Instead, armed with letters of introduction, Mr. de la Renta left for Paris and was immediately offered a job at Christian Dior.

The following day he went to see Antonio del Castillo, the designer at Lanvin, who was looking for an assistant. “He loved me because I spoke Spanish, and he asked me if I could cut, drape and sew, and of course I said yes,” Mr. de la Renta told Bernadine Morris, a former fashion reporter for The Times. “He offered me a little more money than Dior, and I said I would start in two weeks. Then I went to a fashion school and asked the woman who ran it if she could teach me the year’s course in two weeks.”

Mr. de la Renta made his debut as a couture designer in Paris in 1993, showing a collection for Pierre Balmain. He became the first American to design an important couture collection in Paris since Main Rousseau Bocher, known as Mainbocher, closed his salon there in 1940. The house of Balmain, a fixture on the fashion scene since 1946, had foundered after its creator’s death in 1982, and before Mr. de la Renta’s arrival, several designers had been responsible for the line.

Mr. de la Renta also showed his ready-to-wear collection in Paris for three seasons, in 1991 and 1992. The shows were substantially backed by Sanofi, the producer of his fragrances — Oscar and So de la Renta for women, and Pour Homme, for men.

He was presented with Coty Awards, chosen by a jury of fashion editors, for having had the most significant influence on fashion in both 1967 and 1968. In 1973 he was named to the Coty Hall of Fame, and in 1989 he was given a lifetime achievement award by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

During his long career, Mr. de la Renta was among the few designers who knew the difference between the runway and fashion.

“Never, ever confuse what happens on a runway with fashion,” Mr. de la Renta once said. “A runway is spectacle. It’s only fashion when a woman puts it on. Being well dressed hasn’t much to do with having good clothes. It’s a question of good balance and good common sense.”

According to his Obituary he lived an interesting and a colourful life. He certainly designed a beautiful dress for Amal Clooney and hopefully he felt proud of the way it looked on her.I love his perfume Oscar and use it most days.

Amal Alamuddin's mother reveals how Oscar de la Renta would attend her daughter's wedding dress fittings in a wheelchair

Amal's stunning gown was the last wedding dress that Oscar de la Renta designed before his death and her mother reveals how he made sure he was heavily involved in all of the Details

George Clooney’s mother-in-law Baria Alamuddin has revealed that designer Oscar de la Renta attended her daughter Amal’s bridal fittings in a wheelchair before his sad death.The 82-year-old was the mastermind behind Amal’s stunning wedding gown for when she married Hollywood star George in a lavish ceremony last month, and now Baria has revealed how frail the American-Dominican designer was in the months leading up to his death.In an interview with Razia Iqbal on BBC World Service’s Newshour, Baria was asked about de la Renta’s involvement in the designing of the dress and they touched on the photo of him in Vogue alongside Amal.“Yes he was, he was in every fitting and actively involved,” Baria said.

“I remember one time we walked to the fitting and he, we almost came into the design studio together, and he was on a wheelchair, my heart went out to him and he said ‘I haven’t been well I was in the hospital’ and basically he walked in with us and walked out with us,” she recalled.“It really gave it that extra, place and pleasure, and of course this is going to remain with us all our lives and, and that was the last wedding dress that he had designed.”In a behind-the-scenes shoot, captured by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue, Amal was seen beaming for the camera as a proud Oscar de la Renta looks on.“He is the man every woman wants to hug!” Amal told the fashion tome.

“George and I wanted a wedding that was romantic and elegant, and I can’t imagine anyone more able than Oscar to capture this mood in a dress,” she said.“Meeting him made the design process all the more magical, as he is so warm and such a gentleman.”Amal, who had her initial fitting with the renowned designer in July, was joined by her mother Baria, and sister Tala, who flew all the way from Singapore for the special Meeting.

After de la Renta shouts: “Don’t let the dress touch the floor!” Amal’s mother wants some more tulle added to the fourteen yards of Chantilly lace, according to Vogue.com.A vote is made and there were no additions to the dress, which also featured a bodice hand embroidered with beading and crystals.

Amal was hoping to have just her 12-year-old niece Mia as the only flower girl but was advised by de la Renta to change.“That won’t be enough,” he said. “You will need a grown-up to help as well—your sister.”The designer brought home the importance of the dress to a teary-eyed Amal, as he said: “It’s the most important dress in the life of a woman. “Any girl from any walk of life dreams of that special dress, and I try to make that dream a reality for her. Amal and I looked at a lot of evening dresses and wedding dresses together, and we discussed what she liked. That gave me the idea of what she wanted.”

Vogue also reveals that Amal had two dresses for her actual big day, changing out of her wedding dress into a customised party frock selected from Oscar de la Renta’s fall 2014 collection teamed with silver runway shoes from for de la Renta’s upcoming spring 2015 show.In a statement following the designer's death, company executives Alex and Eliza Bolen said he had died surrounded by family, friends, and "more than a few dogs."The statement also read: "While our hearts are broken by the idea of life without Oscar, he is still very much us. Oscar's hard work, his intelligence and his love of life are at the heart of our company."All that we have done, and all that we will do, is informed by his values and his spirit."Through Oscar's example we know the way forward. We will make Oscar very proud of us by continuing in an even stronger way the work that Oscar loved so much."

Last edited by Nicky80 on Wed 22 Oct 2014, 21:23; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : added text)